Nostalgia is where it’s at in all things. People who grew up with certain television shows, movies, or video games will always take a look at what they once loved and go back to revisit their past loves. One game hits that note for me when I think about playing it on the original PlayStation, and that game is actually two in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2(THPS). This time Activision has given us remastered versions and they live up to all the hype. With improved graphics, create-a-skater and create-a-park, and skaters new and old this is our review of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2.
As soon as I heard that THPS was getting the remaster treatment I immediately jumped for joy. There was a small HD version made that was released on Xbox 360 a few years back but it wasn’t true to the originals and wasn’t all that great. These are completely true to the originals and everything feels the same but better. Sure there have been small changes to some of the items in the game that you collect, but only so much as to bring the items more into the present. Every level has been remastered in full HD glory with better shaders as well as improved sound quality. Everything from the skateboards right down to the puddles of water in pools and on the ground looks great. The details that were put into the remasters were well thought out and added to the overall experiences that you remember from the originals.
One of the key pieces to any title, which brings everything together is the music. Tony Hawk games have always had good music but the soundtracks from one and two were the greatest collections that I can remember. Each song has the right tempo and beat for a fast-paced skateboarding title. Soundtracks make or break a game. If THPS had been launched with anything besides the original music I probably wouldn’t feel the same connection to it as I did when I was younger.
Some things have been tweaked or added to THPS as well. As I remember Create-a-Skater and Create-a-Park were not originally in the first title and only the latter was in the original THPS 2. You now have the option to create your own character to train up and take through all of the courses to see how you fair against the challenges. If a bigger challenge is needed then go crazy with making a park of your own and take things to the next level as you place each piece as you see fit. Other items that have been added include challenges to increase stats and help to unlock items for your characters to wear or add to their skateboards as well.
Multiplayer is a welcome addition to the titles as well. The original had local multiplayer but now there is a bigger multiplayer capability within THPS. Play against friends or others around the area as you try to get better with each kickflip and ollie. Local multiplayer is still also an option if you choose as well. The ability to play against others challenges you to get better and to get higher skills and more tricks in a combo as you can get.
One thing that I don’t get is that hand plants were basically removed from THPS. It was replaced with some board plants for the most part unless I am just horrible and remembering how to hand plant, I doubt it though. There are specific modes set to THPS 1, THPS 2, or the current default which may be why some of those are different so I will have to try that out but I didn’t think it would change plants like that. Sometimes you see a glitch or two when you are trying to land a trick and it just doesn’t do what you tell it to do.
This review was completed with a verified purchase of a PC game code.
